Obliques And Left Obliques For Left Handers?

[AD43]

I am wondering whether an oblique or left oblique is suitable for a left handed hooker (me) as I often have not bought pens because of their oblique nibs.

Thankyou

[Bo Bo Olson]

Depending on what of the three or four writing styles a left hander uses, a minority can use a semi-flex oblique.

But I am under the impression that most can not.

So for them a nail or semi-nail oblique would be best....in they are pushing when I am pulling, a stiffer nib would work.............from my experience one can not expect much line variation on nail or even regular flex obliques.

Stub or CI might be better if line variation is desired.

 

There are right handers who are left eye dominate, so automatically cant their nib to see the top of it. For them like right eye dominate users I suggest the semi-flex stubbed vintage '50-60's German obliques, with the grand line variation.....is not superflex. Is a 3 X max tine spread. But the flair is very nice indeed.

[Ghost Plane]

For years I dated a left-handed overwriter who borrowed my stubs and obliques regularly. An oblique is a stub with a different orientation, so you have several considerations. (1) Do you push or pull your nibs? That will control how stiff they need to be.

(2) Are you a finger writer? If you waggle around the axis of your nib, stubs of any orientation may not be for you. If you already have one and love it, chances are excellent you’ll like/love obliques.

 

The lines an oblique makes for you might be reversed based on your hand/pen orientation. That can give you a really cool and personalized script.

 

The nib is going to lay a heavier, wetter line, so you’ll probably want a faster drying ink.

 

Simply let the oblique find its sweet spot on the page via gravity. Close your fingers around it and write. It really is that simple. Triangular sections probably won’t work well for you since they’re designed for a different grasp.

[torstar]

I am wondering whether an oblique or left oblique is suitable for a left handed hooker (me) as I often have not bought pens because of their oblique nibs.

Thankyou

 

Each time I pick up a pen that was unused for a few months it takes me from two seconds to a few days to find the sweet spot without thinking about it.

 

As a lefty the left-footed nibs take the longest time in the collection to re-learn to use, I have not tried a right-footed nib.

 

Pushing the pen across the page (instead of pulling it more naturally) has caused a few of us to note difficulties. Many lefties write with their hand firmly in place to the outer limit stretch of their fingers, then push the pen across a few inches and stretch out again, not a habit of right-handers as far as I have observed.

 

If you really want to you can use these nibs, it may take a larger labour of love though.

Edited February 27, 2018 by torstar

[Corona688]

An oblique will help but only to an extent. It's not quite perfect but gets you into the "zone" where you can fudge the result a bit with other pen tricks like sideways-dragging instead of flex.

 

If you can practice being a side-writer it will help more, and it might be easier than you think. Try writing on paper that's a foot ahead of you: Did you become an underwriter? I called myself a sidewriter but when I pay attention I realize I mutate between sidewriter, under-writer, and hook depending on how far away the paper is.

 

The speedball "standard" oblique has a symmetric grip and lets you put the nib in any angle you want, both a blessing - not trapping you at the "correct" angle - and a curse, having to re-find that angle every time you replace a nib.

 

I've been trying to design a "proper" oblique for left-handers:

 

http://burningsmell.org/3d/oblique-pen/hello-thingiverse.jpg

 

Work is ongoing. It's good enough for me but I have no idea if it's "ideal".

[Bo Bo Olson]

Oblique holders from my reading is something right handers need to = left handers when using superflex nibs.

How that helps a left hander I don't know.

 

I do have a couple, in a glass covered case so they are not getting dusty.

[Corona688]

Oblique holders from my reading is something right handers need to = left handers when using superflex nibs.

Right-handers use obliques to help with some especially awkward calligraphy styles.

 

Lefties use them to correct their bass-ackwards pen posture to move the nib closer to - but not entirely the same as - a right-handed penholding style. Otherwise we'd be digging through the paper at all times.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Corona688

[pajaro]

I have tried right obliques and left obliques. I have tried OBBB left obliques. I can write with them. I frankly, though, prefer extra fine or fine stiff nibs and not the wimpy wobblers. I write over and side left handed, according to whim.

 

A medium italic nib, a good stiff one, is probably the most enjoyable of the funnies. Not enough ink goes down to ruin my mood.

[JakobS]

As a lefty who has used all the types of lefty hand positions, I throughly enjoy using the Esterbrook Relief nib (left oblique) in the 2-L.

Edited February 28, 2018 by JakobS

[Runnin_Ute]

I am a righty and have an OB in one of my Pelikan M200's. I'm not 100% sure whether it is a right or a left oblique. (hard to tell even with my loupe) But I notice if I haven't used it in a few days, I do have to pay closer attention to get it right. But when I use it almost daily not so much.

[sidthecat]

I don’t believe in oblique nibs. I use small pens and a hand position that allows me to pull my lines. That way I can indulge in some pretty radical flex.

[Drubbing]

Getting any oblique is a punt, unless you get to try one first.

 

Many years ago when I bought a few vintage pens, and then got a new Pelikan, I tried a custom oblique pelikan nib from John Mottishaw. It didn't go well, and went back and forth and cost me probably as much as the pen in the end. I still have it, unused. So is the Pelikan with it's original M nib.

 

I write under the line, but from what I can tell, not significantly different to a RH writer. I can't imagine a left oblique working for someone who hooks, as you'd have to get a custom, and potentially go through all the issues I had.

 

I stick with regular nibs and find some are better than others for me. I much prefer my Safari to the Pelikan. Go figure.

Edited February 28, 2018 by Drubbing

[Bo Bo Olson]

Drubbing,

What era Pelikan?...ah, a new one.

 

'82-97 Regular flex 400 or 200...even the tad more springy W.Germany 200 I have in OM ....

Or a modern one semi-nail 400/600 (never either in Oblique had but learned from the regular flex obliques I trans-mailed, there is nothing in a tad springier 200, or nail 800 has too little nib flex to show much.

 

I had a Lamy 27 in OM and a Persona in OB that were nails, that showed no line variation; so would expect nothing in the 800. I had the Persona (that was stored under the bed, in there was no line variation) made into a CI by PB. Now it's always out.

 

I have trans-mailed oblique 200's to a passed poster in England and was disappointed in them, in there was not enough flex in the nib to do anything.

I had hopes that my W. Germany 200 with that tad more spring to it, would do something....have to really look hard...and it's not a stub.

Did Mottishaw stub it also?

 

 

German semi-flex '50-65 era one is a stub nib with 3 X tine spread vs a light down stroke.....at half the pressure needed to mash a regular flex to 3 X.........there is very good line variation. My first one was a 140 OB ....a writing nib (sort of a fat M, if one knows only modern Pelikan), in the semi-vintage and vintage nibs are half a width narrower than modern.

 

I have 16 vintage German Obliques, from 4-5 of the basic companies who made semi-flex; in a mix of semi&maxi-semi-flex.

If you want a maxi, the only sure pen that will give you that is an Osmia-Osmia-Faber-Castell Supra nib. The Osmia Diamond nib is semi-flex. Outside my Osmia's, I'd guess 1 in 5 semi-flex would or could be a maxi.

 

Then comes grind.....and that's pure luck as far as I can tell.....I have 15 degree and 30 degree grind in a mix of semi&maxi, in OBB, OB, OM and OF............never chased OEF in I thought it too narrow for my eyes.

Sometimes I think, in few ever mention them, or say this or that company had literature on that, That the fabled German Corner Pen Shoppe, the sales clerk...then a well trained pen man, would ask do you want a bit more oblique? Then go into the back room and add more.

There is more pattern to it, but more tipping is worn off, so the down end is at minimum tipping.

 

Oddly I've not run into a @22 degree grind....but I have only a small sample to judge from.

 

I've not got a great amount of 30 degree grind nibs....just 5.........one the Pelikan 500 OBBB (unmarked nib maxi nor pen in marking the rolled gold pen would destroy the piston cap, a fancy signature only pen, must be factory done.

 

To see what grind one has. hold the pen up to the light and look at the angle.....and make a guess. In vintage 15 seems to be much more prevalent......30 degree less so.

[torstar]

I don’t believe in oblique nibs. I use small pens and a hand position that allows me to pull my lines. That way I can indulge in some pretty radical flex.

 

Lefties add creative bends to all things that "the man" insists on preserving.

[pajaro]

Edged nibs give the opposite result to a left hander. I see it every time I write.

 

The nuances of period Pelikans are not relevant to this. Left handers would have to learn to use a nib, flexing it the opposite way a right hander would unless you want to flex pushing. Better for the left hander to not worry about flex perhaps.

 

The Pelikan and Esterbrook obliques are left obliques, unless they are specially ground. I have used both. Several of each. Some like them, some don't. I don't go out of my way to use the ones I have, but they are probably OK.

 

The best type of edged nib I have used is a medium italic. Not too wide, but you can see line variation. One of mine is on a Sonnet Firedance, which actually writes after a wetting exercise.

[sandy101]

I'm left handed. For general everyday writing, I find an oblique unnecessary.

 

However, for certain styles of calligraphy where you have to hold the pen at an angle to the paper - an oblique makes the job much, much easier.

[Drubbing]

Drubbing,

What era Pelikan?...ah, a new one.

 

It was a 2002 M200, I think. It's quite a small pen. I bought one after getting a few vintage, and found I preferred the vintage. But the point of mentioning it was the modern pen allowed custom nibs to be tried.

 

I don't do calligraphy, so really don't know why I bothered (can't remember it was 15 years ago), but it was expensive and pointless and made my handwriting worse than it already was.

 

The point to the OP was I don't think it's worth trying if you've a funky LH style and can't try one out first - but you also have you know why you want one, and what you're expecting it to achieve.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't do calligraphy either.

 

Semi-flex is more for the natural flair, of that 'old time fountain pen style' with out having to do anything, same goes for the obliques only more so. They give more pattern.

Semi-flex is OK for an occasional decender but is more work than a maxi-semi-flex...like an Osmia Supra..............to lazy to have my italic calligraphy book out to practice drawing certain parts of this and that letter....to spiff up the line....or the end of a paragraph where one has a bit more space to play with.

 

Calligraphy is actually practicing drawing a letter properly to get an exact pattern.

I just scribble and if I wish fancy up a descender.....

[overwriter]

As a lefty I use obliques and stubs a lot and they work great. Most left handed writers I know usually have a couple of different styles under their belts. Overwriting, side writing etc. A stub or oblique will teach you to stop rotating the nib very quickly. You may not get quite as much line variation as a right handed writer but you will get some and you will find it satisfying.

 

Pajaro mentioned a medium italic as a favourite. I would agree but add a medium stub as a a great option for everyday writing as well. I have two medium stubs in Parson’s Essentials from Mr. Pen that work great and make my handwriting much better.

 

Very few of the lefties I have met have had much luck with flex nibs though. Including myself.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Regular flex?

I assume you are not talking about super flex.

Semi-flex takes an underwriter from what I understand about left handed writing. Which is about a thimble full.

I have heard both that a right foot oblique works, and that it don't....it depends on the style used by the left hander...I assume.

I only have one right foot oblique and it's first stage superflex(Easy Full Flex OF) on a post war 100n Pelikan....which would be an under writer's only pen...I guess.